1897.1 ASHLEY — GEOLOGY OF ARKANSAS. 231 



Conglomerate. — First found in the Chalybeate mountain where 

 cut by the Caddo, and later in a large number of places over the 

 region, occurs a coarse grit or fine conglomerate. In places this 

 forms a distinct bed eighteen inches or a few feet thick, but oftener 

 it mingles in indistinct layers with the sandstones in a bed from 

 fifty to one hundred feet in thickness, and varies all the way from a 

 conglomerate to the fine-grained sandstone with which it is associa- 

 ted. It consists of small, rounded grains of milky quartz, none of 

 which are more than a quarter of an inch in diameter, cemented by 

 fine sand and iron. 



JSIovaculite. — Reference is here made to a layer of novaculite 

 from two to six inches thick which is found well scattered over the 

 region. Considering the thinness of the layer, its persistence is re- 

 markable, as it was found from range 22 W. to the territory line, 

 and from the novaculite mountains to township 7 S. Unfortunately 

 its exact position in the series could not be determined, but it 

 seems certain that it is above the Silurian novaculite series, yet not 

 separated from that series by more than a few hundred feet. In 

 only one case was it found in a creek section; it usually appears 

 only where the layer is crossed by a road or field. At such places 

 it can be followed by the fragments of novaculite which lie on the 

 surface. In 5 S., 22 and 23 W., it was traced for about six miles, 

 and at other places it wsa traced for shorter distances. It appears 

 to be invariably associated with beds of silicious shales, the whole 

 aggregating a thickness of about fifteen feet. In the centre occurs 

 the characteristic novaculite from two to six inches thick. On 

 either side of the novaculite layer is an exceedingly fine-grained 

 silicious shale with hackly fracture, differing from novaculite in ap- 

 pearance only in that the grain can be made out. From this the 

 transition may be traced through less and less silicious shales, until, 

 at a distance of seven or eight feet on either side, it has entirely 

 given up its silicious character and appears to be a soft, argillaceous 

 shale, crumbling easily in the fingers, its only resemblance now to 

 the neighboring novaculite being its color, as it still retains the pe- 

 culiar drab and pink which run through the whole series. 



Igneous Rock. — There [appear in many places from Amity west- 

 ward outcrops of rocks containing white specks a sixteenth of 

 an inch in diameter and smaller. Other unknown ingredients 

 appear in thin sections, but in hand specimens the white specks are 

 a characteristic by which it can be recognized. The rock matrix 



